After
by nightingaleofshadow
Summary: Blah blah blah, can't think of a description.


Tali'zorah vas Rannoch sat on the bed in the apartment her Shepard had inherited from Admiral Anderson, and hugged her legs. In her hands was a picture of her mate, who had reportedly died after the explosions that had rocked the citadel. There had been no news in days, even since the Normandy had returned from it's crash-landing on what was later identified to be Virmire. Admiral Anderson's body had been recovered, but no news had been given about Shepard.  
After getting the news about the explosion, Tali had burst into tears, and run into Shepard's cabin on the Normandy, and refused to come out for a few hours, until Traynor had convinced her that it was best if Tali herself put his name on the Memorial Wall on the Normandy, right beneath Anderson's name.  
Tali had not been able to bring herself to put the plate on the wall, and had instead hugged the plate to her body, refusing to believe he was dead. After the Normandy had finished it's repairs and had docked on the repairing Citadel, Tali had gone to every hospital she could, in an effort to find Shepards name on the patient lists, but to no avail. She wasn't giving up on him, not by a long shot, but she was beginning to lose hope.  
Her omni-tool chimed, and looking down, she saw it was a message from James Vega. The message was simple.  
Huerta Memorial Hospital. Now.

Slowly getting off the bed, Tali pulled her mask back onto her face (Shepard had insisted on installing air filters all throughout the apartment to make it more quarian friendly). Going to the door, she made sure Chatikka was properly installed into her new omni-tool, and looked back. She could just barely see the picture on the far room from the door. The last time the whole Normandy crew, with the exception of Kaiden, Thane, Mordin and Legion, had been together. She could just barely make out Shepard's face in the picture, his head turned to look at her.  
Smiling under her mask, Tali opened the door, and walked down the hallway leading out of the Tiberius Towers Apartment Complex. As she did, her omni-tool chimed again, this time with a message from Garrus. The message was essential the same as Vega's, except it was all capitalized. As she was closing the message, another popped up, this time the source being...  
"Why is Huerta contacting me directly? Did someone get hurt?" She couldn't help but wonder as she opened the message.  
Tali'zorah vas Rannoch, this is an automated message from Serana, the Huerta Memorial VI. We have recieved Commander John Shepard, and he requested that we at the hospital inform you of his condition, as he has no next of kin. Given the state of his condition when he was admitted, we have delayed in informing you so he would have time to rest. We apologize for this, and open our doors to you.  
Tali's jaw opened wide, and tears begain to leak from her large purple eyes. She began to run towards the skycar lot.

Tali burst through the doors to the hospital, earning her some dirty looks from hospital orderlies, but she ignored them, and instead focused on the front desk.  
The woman at the desk looked at her with what seemed to be disdain.  
"Can I help you?" The receptionist said with a forced smile.  
"Commander...John...Shepard...where...is...he?" Tali gasped, out of breath from running so fast and so long.  
"I'm going to need your name, miss..."  
"My...name is...Tali'zorah...vas Rannoch." She managed to gasp out.  
The receptionist's eyes went wide.  
"Oh, Miss vas Rannoch! Of course, he's in room 24C in the Blue Wing. He just got out of surgery."  
Being a member of the Normandy's crew had it's advantages.

Running along the C hallway of the Blue Wing, Tali saw a small crowd of people around one door. She immediately recognized everyone in the group. James Vega, Garrus, Ashley, Joker, Liara, Kenneth Donnely and Gabriela Daniels. When they saw her hurtling towards them, they turned to her, and Vega was the first one to reach her.  
"Hold on there, sparks. Admiral Hackett is in there with him. He won't be long, just be patient." He said, gently grabbing her arm to stop her from bursting into the room.  
"Let me go, James. I need to see him. Let me go!" She shouted at him, furiously struggling to get free of his grip.  
Ashley stepped in front of her, and tried to help restrain her.  
"Tali, relax. He's fine. He was pretty banged up when Grunt brought him in here, but they finished the surgery a few hours ago."  
Tali paused in her furious attempt at freedom.  
"Grunt? Why did Grunt have him?"  
"Apparently he wandered into the beam a while after Shepard did. Followed his trail, found Admiral Anderson's body, and pulled a few hundred pounds of rubble off of Shepard. Grabbed them both, and brought them to the nearest shuttle he could find. Don't know how he managed to fly that thing without destroying it, but he made it back to Earth, and gave them both to Alliance teams celebrating the destruction of the reapers. After that, he and Wrex took their armies and headed back to Tuchanka."  
"Oh. So, where is everyone?" Tali finally calmed down enough for Vega to release her arm.  
"We were only just told. Vega was visiting Steve Cortez when an orderly asked if he knew Shepard, and then showed him the room. The folks here are the only people Vega has told, so far."  
As they finished talking, Admiral Steven Hackett exited the door, followed by Karin Chakwas. Chakwas looked at Tali with a twinkle in her eyes.  
"I thought i heard you Tali. Go on in, he's dying to see you. The admiral simply had a few things to discuss with him."  
Nodding at the doctor and the admiral, Tali cautiously entered the room.

The first thing she noticed was how bright it was, so bright that it forced her to darken her mask.  
She then noticed him.  
Shepard was sitting, propped up right on pillows. His body was dressed in bandages, large dark bruises were visible where the bandages didn't cover. Long, healed gashes were visible on his arms, and there was a bandage covering his forehead. But he was smiling, and that smile was brighter than the room.  
Tali launched herself at him, and held him tightly, ignoring the nurses protests. He wrapped his lean arms around her, and they remained like that for a while, while she removed her mask and buried her face into his neck, savoring his warmth.

A single tear trickled out of her eyes, and she spoke, muffled as she was.

"I love you, John"


End file.
